U.S. agencies stop semi-submersible, seize 12,000 pounds of cocaine

ALAMEDA — The U.S. Coast Guard seized a self-propelled semi-submersible vessel carrying more than 16,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean July 18.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton from Alameda apprehended four suspected smugglers and seized 275 bales of cocaine worth more than $181 million wholesale from the self-propelled semi-submersible. A U.S. Navy maritime patrol aircraft detected the 40-foot semi-submersible vessel more than 200-miles south of Mexico.

After removing 12,000 pounds of the narcotics aboard, the crew of Stratton attempted to tow the vessel to shore as evidence; however, the semi-submersible began taking on water and sank. Approximately 4,000 pounds of cocaine left in the SPSS vessel to stabilize it during the towing evolution sank and is unrecoverable.

The crew of the Cutter Stratton interdicted or disrupted 15 different drug smuggling attempts since April including another self-propelled semi-submersible vessel carrying 5,460 pounds of cocaine June 16. Coast Guardsmen aboard Stratton have seized more than 33,000 pounds of cocaine worth more than $540 million wholesale since May 2015.

The July 18 semi-submersible seizure is the largest recorded semi-submersible interdiction in Coast Guard history. Stratton’s semi-submersible busts are also the first and second by a Legend Class Cutter, the Coast Guard’s newest and most capable vessels.

This is the first interdiction of two semi-submersibles in a single patrol at sea where Coast Guardsmen recovered both the narcotics and the vessels. There have been 25 known semi-submersible interdictions in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since November 2006 when the first documented interdiction occurred. A semi-submersible is a vessel constructed for illicit trafficking that is mostly submerged with just a cockpit and exhaust pipe visible above water. These vessels are extremely difficult to detect and interdict because of their low-profile and ability to scuttle.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine also assisted by monitoring the semi-submersible using a maritime patrol aircraft during the course of the interdiction July 18.